


the stumbles and falls brought me here (or, five weddings and a funeral)

by dearygirl



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-18
Updated: 2013-08-18
Packaged: 2017-12-23 23:18:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/932254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearygirl/pseuds/dearygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the M/M Secret Admirers Fic Exchange for ktcosmopolitan. The prompt was: “Based on this autobiographical sentence from onesentence.org: "We walked into the emergency room looking like the top of a wedding cake and everyone stopped to look." I went a bit off prompt but it's there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the stumbles and falls brought me here (or, five weddings and a funeral)

_May 2012_

 

  
Annie’s shoe breaks.

 

  
She’s in the middle of dancing exuberantly to “We Are Family” when the strap snaps and her ankle rolls painfully, sending her tumbling into Troy’s arms with an  _oomf_ of surprise.

 

  
“Are you okay?!” He yells over the music, his hands at her elbows as he steadies her.

 

  
Annie nods and stands on her foot gingerly; it hurts but she’s able to stand and she nods her head to the side to let him know that she’s going to go sit down. Troy picks her shoe up off the ground for her, asking again if she’s okay but before she really has a chance to answer Britta’s grabbed him around the waist and the two of them are jumping around and waving their hands in the air wildly. Annie limps slowly out of the crowd of dancers.

 

  
One of Shirley’s friends directs her down the hallway where the Sunday School supplies are stored so that she might find some superglue and as she slips out the swinging double doors Annie lets out a deep breath, the quiet of the hallway falling around her, the sounds of the party inside fading to an echoing din.

 

  
The door to the storage closet is slightly ajar and when she pushes it open she lets out a noise of surprise at the sight of Jeff on the floor, leaning back against one of the shelves, his legs stretched out long in front of him.

 

  
“Jeff?”

 

  
He looks startled to see her and his lips part slightly but he doesn’t say anything; he just raises the cup in his hand to her and then swallows the contents in one gulp.

 

  
Annie pushes down the fluttering of nerves in her chest and steps in, doing a visual survey of the shelves. “What are you doing in here?”

 

  
He shrugs, “What does it look like?”

 

  
“It looks like you’re being antisocial.” She spots a box on the shelf above him marked “glue” and reaches for it with fingertips outstretched. It’s almost too high and she considers asking for his help but with a little hop she manages to snag a corner of the lid and pull it down. She can feel Jeff’s eyes on her feet.

 

  
“You’re avoiding me,” he mumbles.

 

  
“I’m not the one hiding in a storage closet.” She looks down at him. “And you’re drunk.”

 

  
Jeff shakes his head, “Psshh. Am not. Shirley said no alcohol.’”

 

  
“And even  _she_  knows about the flask in Britta’s purse.” Annie’s voice is snappier than normal and her shoulders drop a little because she doesn’t want to be mad at him. There’s no reason for it and she’s trying as hard as possible not to be unreasonable right now. She  _has_  been avoiding him though; he’s not wrong about that.

 

  
“What are you doing?”

 

  
She answers the question as it applies to the current moment and not life in general as she roots around in the box for something that is not a half-empty and dried out bottle of Elmer’s glue. “My shoe broke.”

 

  
He laughs. “You’re just one pumpkin away from being an actual Disney princess aren’t you?”

 

  
“Cinderella  _lost_  her shoe, Jeff.”

 

  
“Tomay-to, Tomah-to.”

 

  
Her fingers finally close around a small tube of superglue and then somehow, by some force that’s she’s never really understood and has to do with a lot more than the warmth of his smile and a silly crush, she finds herself sitting down next to Jeff. She crosses her legs primly at the ankles and concentrates on applying a thin line of glue to one side of the strap and holding the two sides together with enough pressure so that the glue holds as it dries. She doesn’t look at him as she counts to sixty three times in her head.

 

  
“Annie.” Jeff breaks her concentration but she still won’t look at him. “We should… talk.” His words are slow and measured, laced with a twinge of reluctance. Annie has a fleeting desire to throw her shoe at his head. “What happened between us was--”

 

  
“Sex.” The word just sort of blurts out of her mouth and Jeff raises an eyebrow and purses his lips together like he’s trying not to smile. Annie flushes and averts her eyes.

 

  
“Well. Yeeeeeeah.”

 

  
They’re both quiet and the memories that she’s tried so hard these past few weeks to repress and forget about are suddenly there, threatening to wash over her and if she lets them, if she lets herself remember all that and the heat of his kisses and the firm pressure of his hands on her thighs and –

 

  
Her breath catches in her throat and Jeff jerks his head toward her sharply. His eyes fall to her lips and he swallows hard.

 

  
“Annie.”

 

  
“Please don’t say it was a mistake.”

 

  
Jeff blinks at her. “Is that why you’ve been--” He stops himself and shakes his head. “Wow. I really am an asshole aren’t I?”

 

  
Annie lets herself really laugh at that. “No. You’re just…” She’s not sure how to finish that sentence in a way that doesn’t sound insulting but he doesn’t seem to expect her to. He reaches over and fingers the strap of the shoe in her lap, then lets his hand fall back down to rest on his own thigh.

 

  
“So if it wasn’t a mistake, what was it?” He’s watching her, his eyes soft and questioning like he really wants to know. 

 

  
“It was…” Annie tugs on the strap of the shoe experimentally and it holds but she’s not sure why she bothered – there’s no way it’s going to hold up for the rest of the night. “It was nice.”

 

  
“Nice?” He raises an eyebrow and Annie shrugs. “Nice,” he repeats, softer this time as if he’s agreeing with her. He leans his head back against the shelf and presses the heel of his hand over the spot between his eyes. “But.” The muscles in his jaw clench as he struggles for the right words.

 

  
“It’s fine, Jeff.”

 

  
He rolls his head back in her direction and their eyes meet for a long moment.

 

  
“I don’t  _want_ to be an asshole.”

 

  
“I know.”

 

  
Jeff exhales loudly and runs his thumb along the rim of the cup in his hand. “Good wedding, huh?”

 

  
Annie smiles, nodding. “Shirley seems really happy.”

 

  
“I hope it lasts this time,” he adds quietly.

 

  
There’s a  _something_  in his voice that makes Annie almost shudder at the effort it takes to hold back the sob of emotion that catches in her throat. She bites her lip and then leans over and presses her hand against his cheek. He turns into her touch so that the corner of his mouth grazes the palm of her hand and meets her gaze with a small smile. Annie’s fingertips smooth along the stubble on his jaw.

 

  
When she tries to pull away Jeff snags her wrist and tugs her a little closer.

 

  
“You’re important to me.”

 

  
She nods, afraid to say anything.

 

  
“And I need… I need us to be okay.”

 

  
“We’re okay,” she whispers and then leans in further and presses her lips to his just briefly before pulling away and getting to her feet. “I’ll see you out there?”

 

  
“Yeah.” He continues staring down at his lap and Annie nods again before bending down to remove her other shoe and making her way back down the hall barefoot.

 

  
~*~*~

 

  
_October 2012_

 

  
Everyone turns to stare as they walk into the emergency room.

 

  
Annie barely notices as she cradles her right hand against her chest and tries to fight back tears but Jeff scowls, tugging at his collar as he leads her to the front desk. The nurse looks up at them, her eyes widening in curiosity as she takes in their attire. She doesn’t comment on it though - just asks them to sign in and slides a clipboard and pen across the counter.

 

  
“I’m not going to be able to fill it out.” Annie gestures meekly to her hand and Jeff sighs and grabs the paperwork, flopping down into the nearest chair.

 

  
“This is your fault,” he grumbles.

 

  
Annie settles next to him, the tulle and lace of her dress fluttering around her like an ethereal bubble. “I know. You’ve already told me. You didn’t have to bring me. I could have waited for Britta.”

 

  
“Hey, I’m not doing this to be nice. I was just looking for an excuse to get out of clean-up duty.” He raises a meaningful eyebrow and Annie huffs, turning away from him as much as possible. With her uninjured hand she pats back the mess of curls that are threatening to come loose from her once elegant up-do and as she raises her arm she notices the streak of pink frosting running up from her elbow. Yeah, she probably should have looked in a mirror before walking in here.

 

  
“What’s your middle name?” Jeff asks as he starts to fill out her paperwork.

 

  
Annie turns her attention to him with a frown. “You don’t know my middle name?”

 

  
“Do you know  _mine_?”

 

  
She thinks about it, realizing that she doesn’t. “What is it?”

 

  
“How about this? The next time _I_  start a riot and have to be taken to the emergency room with a possible broken wrist, I’ll tell you.”

 

  
“It wasn’t a riot.”

 

  
“Annie, you look like you were attacked by a wild animal.” he points his pen at her face to illustrate his point and Annie gasps and touches the side of her face where there are definitely a couple long scratch marks welting up from the side of her temple down to her jaw.

 

  
“It was  _Other_ Annie! She kept giving me notes on my acting.”

 

  
“So you decided to throw a piece of cake at her head.”

 

  
Annie glares at him and slumps further into her seat. “My middle name’s Elizabeth…. and I don’t see why Abed asked her to be his assistant anyway,” she mutters under her breath.

 

  
“Uh-huh.” Jeff continues filling out the form, only asking her for help when he doesn’t know the answers. It’s not until Annie’s awkwardly trying to sign the bottom of the form with her left hand that he broaches the subject again. “What was your deal today anyway?”

 

  
“What?”

 

  
Jeff eyes her pointedly, “You practically bit my head off when I asked if I could borrow your script. You made Troy cry at one point. It was like reliving Britta giving up smoking.”

 

  
Annie rolls her eyes, “Troy cries when the cafeteria runs out of macaroni and cheese. Like it’s that big a deal.”

 

  
“You know.” A slow smirk starts to spread across Jeff’s face. “I couldn’t help but notice that the attitude started after you walked in on me and Katie in the study room during lunch.” He doesn’t quite meet her eyes, like he’s not completely sure how she’s gong to respond to what he just said. Neither of them notices the woman on Annie’s other side looking up at them, her mouth dropping open in scandal.

 

  
“Oh, you mean you  _do_  know her name?”

 

  
He shrugs, “We’ve gone on a couple dates.”

 

  
“Oh.” Annie looks down, picking at a torn piece of lace in her dress. “I didn’t know you were dating anyone.”

 

  
“It’s nothing serious.” He grins. “So you  _were_ jealous.” He’s teasing her, but Annie won’t look at him. Her jaw is set in annoyance. Jeff’s eyes trace over her features.” It’s okay you know.”

 

  
“Gee. Thanks.”

 

  
He leans in. “I’m trying to be nice here.”

 

  
“No. You’re being an egotistical ass.”

 

  
“Fine.” Jeff gets up, his body tense with annoyance, and walks back to the front desk to return the paperwork. When he doesn’t come back right away Annie looks up and around the waiting room. Her skin prickles with concern and she momentarily entertains the thought that he’s left her here to fend for herself. She finally spots him though, near the front entrance, surveying the offerings of the vending machine.

 

  
Jeff slides back into his seat a few minutes later, dropping a bag of Chex Mix in her lap. “I thought you might be hungry.” His words are tight and clipped and he rests his elbow on the opposite armrest, leaning away from her.

 

  
“Thanks.” Annie fingers the corner of the bag with her left hand. They sit in silence for a while, the various noises of the emergency room swirling around them until Annie clears her throat and asks, “Do you think I ruined Abed’s movie?”

 

  
Jeff huffs out a laugh, his shoulders relaxing. “No. He’ll probably end up thanking you for creating a sense of realism on film.” After a pause he reaches over and tears open the bag for her, then steals a pretzel. “ And knowing Abed, he probably asked Other Annie to be around because he knew  _exactly_  what was going to happen.”

 

  
Annie thinks about it for a second and then gasps. “That manipulative little--” She bites back a few choice words and sticks her chin out haughtily. “Well then, that’s the last time I agree to be a part of one of his films.”

 

  
“Hear, hear.” Jeff grins to himself and Annie eyes him sideways. She  _has_  been curious as to how Abed convinced him to be in the film, as the groom no less. But she fights down the urge to ask.

 

  
He nudges her shoulder and nods at her swollen wrist.

 

  
“So, you think it’s sprained?”

 

  
“Hmm.” She eyes it critically. The skin along her wrist and thumb is already turning a light bruised purple and when she tries to flex it gently a stabbing twinge of pain shoots down her arm and into her fingertips. She winces and holds it close to her chest again. “Probably.” And then an awful thought occurs to her. “Wait. What am I going to do about finals next week?”

 

  
Jeff rolls his eyes. “ _Of course_  that’s what you’re worried about.”

 

  
“I won’t be able to take any of my tests. Or finish my Philosophy paper. Or--”

 

  
“Hey, relax. We’ll figure it out, okay?” He slips an arm around her shoulders. “We’re not going to let you flunk out of Greendale… Cause then we’d  _all_  be screwed.”

 

  
Annie lets out a hysterical little laugh and covers her eyes with her uninjured hand, curling into his chest. Jeff laughs with her and rests his chin against the top of her head, his fingers playing with the lace of her cap sleeve. After a moment he supplies a quiet, “It’s Tobias by the way.”

 

  
“Hmm?” She tilts her head up at him, her eyes squinting in confusion. As understanding dawns, a slow smile pulls at her lips, “Jeffrey Tobias Winger. I like it.” She lets herself relax into him again, trying to convince herself it doesn’t mean anything when she feels his hand start to slide through her hair soothingly.

 

 

  
~*~*~

 

  
_June 2013_

 

  
Jeff raises his glass and clears his throat, “I’d like to propose a toast.”

 

  
“Awww,” Annie coos from her perch on the arm of the sofa.

 

  
He shakes his head at her, “I didn’t even say anything yet.”

 

  
She shrugs, “It was preemptive.”

 

  
“Well, maybe I’m about to say something awful.”

 

  
“Ughhh.” Troy stands near the door, bouncing a little on his toes. “Can we please get on with it? Abed and I have a surefire Blackjack strategy and we’re saving for a life-sized DARSIT replica.” He wiggles his eyebrows at Britta suggestively and she eyes him sideways, her nose scrunched up in confusion.

 

  
“You guys aren’t doing anything illegal, right?” Annie looks to Jeff for backup and he sighs and points his finger at each of his friends in turn.

 

  
“I might have my license back but don’t count on me to come running to your legal defense if any of you get in trouble tonight.”

 

  
“Okay. Okay. Guys.” Britta grabs her champagne flute off the coffee table and raises it in the air. “To making it out of Greendale alive.”

 

  
“To graduation.” Annie lifts her glass with a smile.

 

  
“To Vegas,” Troy practically whoops.

 

  
“And to the TSA agent who detained Pierce at the gate.” Jeff instinctively moves out of arm’s reach of Annie before she has a chance to smack him.

 

  
“How does a guy that old and white get suspected of terrorism in the first place?” Troy wonders out loud.

 

  
“I’d actually argue that old white men are the _real_  terrorists,” Britta intones with a flip of her hair. Everyone else groans.

 

  
Annie reaches over to the other side of the couch and rests her hand on Abed’s knee. “You’re quiet. What’s your toast, Abed?”

 

  
He looks around at everyone, head titled in thought, then nodding once says, “To the study group.”

 

  
Jeff smiles, “To us.”

 

  
“To us!” Everyone echoes, clinking glasses with bright smiles.

 

  
“Now let’s party.”

 

 

  
_*Fourteen Hours Later*_

 

 

  
Jeff and Annie are in bed.

 

  
Together.

 

  
He’s curled around her, one arm draped over her waist, their heads on the same pillow. Annie starts to stir, inhaling deeply, and at her slight movement Jeff shifts and nuzzles his nose against the back of her neck but doesn’t wake.

 

  
“Ermm,” Annie groans and tries to swallow but her tongue feel too dry, like she’s swallowed a mouthful of sand. There’s a dull pounding in her temples that seems to radiate all the way down her body and as she opens her eyes and squints blearily into the sunlight streaming through the open window she’s hit with a wave of nausea.

 

  
“Whaaaaaaat?” she whimpers, turning her face into the pillow.

 

  
“Hmm,” Jeff murmurs in response. His arm pulls back a bit, his hand landing high up on her ribcage, fingers flexing into the material of her shirt. Annie clenches her eyes shut to ward out the sun and turns in his arms so that she’s lying on her back. Jeff’s forehead falls against her shoulder.

 

  
“Jeff.” Annie groans again. Every part of her body feels terrible and gross and achy, she’s still wearing last night’s clothes, and try as she might, she can’t recall exactly how she ended up in this bed. There are only blurry memories of dancing at a club that was playing a pounding techno music she could feel through the floor. And drinking a vase-sized glass of some bright blue mixed drink that Britta ordered for her. Ugh. Her stomach rolls at the thought of alcohol and she reaches out blindly to push at Jeff’s chest, fingers pressing against the warmth of his bare skin and making her pause.

 

  
“Go back to sleep,” he whines, batting her hand away.

 

  
Annie pries one eye open and chances a look down and, yeah, he’s naked.

 

  
Completely, and definitely, naked.

 

  
“Ughhhhhh,” She presses the heels of her hands against her closed eyes. “What  _happened_  last night?”

 

  
Jeff grumbles something under his breath, sounding irritated as his eyes finally blink open. He stares at her for a second. “Annie?”

 

  
She gives him a faint smile and he huffs out a laugh, nodding and letting his head fall back against the pillow. “Why are you naked?” Annie whispers, suddenly remembering the possibility of their friends being elsewhere in the hotel suite.

 

  
“ _Really_?” He smirks incredulously before raking his eyes down her body, his lips pursing out in a frown. ‘Wait, why _aren’t_  you? What happened last night?”

 

  
She rolls her eyes and pushes herself away from him so she can sit up and look around the room. “Oh now you’re concerned.” The quick movement sends another wave of nausea washing over her and she presses her fingertips to her lips, letting out a tiny burp. The pounding in her head intensifies. “Oh. I don’t feel good.”

 

  
“You’re hungover.” Jeff stretches his arms over his head and yawns loudly. “We need to get you some food.”

 

  
“Mmm-mm.” Annie shakes her head.

 

  
“Trust me, babe.” he reaches over and trails his hand over the small of her back, rubbing his thumb against her comfortingly before sitting up and swinging his legs off the side of the bed. “Where the fuck are my clothes?”

 

  
Annie takes a couple deep breaths in and out. “I barely even remember coming back to the room last night.”

 

  
Jeff disappears into to the bathroom, coming back a moment later with a towel wrapped around his waist. “We got back around two. And then…” He thinks about it, scrubbing a hand over his face. “We drank more. A lot more apparently. Fuck. It’s all kind of a blur.”

 

  
“No. That’s right. We drank the beer that you and Britta bought,” Annie’s nodding furiously, clearly in some kind of mental tailspin as she tries to piece together the night. “And then--”

 

  
“You know what?” He frowns and shakes his head. “I say it’s best not to know. ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’, right?”

 

  
“But you’re not curious about,” Annie waves vaguely between them, “THIS?”

 

  
Jeff shrugs and sits down at the edge of the bed next to her, leaning close. “This  _what_?” He’s teasing her, his voice low and husky. Annie laughs and pushes him away.

 

  
“You know what I’m talking about, Jeff.”

 

  
“Hmmm.” He pretends to think about it, “I think I’d remember if things got…  _interesting_.”

  
Annie flushes but doesn’t look away. “We still wound up in bed together.”

 

  
Jeff nods his head in agreement, his lips turning up in a soft smile as his eyes search hers. Annie feels herself going a little breathless as he starts to lean in again. But then she gasps and pulls away, “We played Truth or Dare.”

 

  
“Um.” Jeff’s face flashes confusion and then resignation in quick succession as he leans back, his arms braced behind him. “Let me guess, Abed’s idea?”

 

  
Annie’s nose scrunches up. “Maybe.” She lets her gaze slide down Jeff’s bare chest. “Troy dared you to run down the hallway naked.”

 

  
“Ah.”

 

  
“And then you dared Britta to….” she trails off, her eyes going almost comically wide.

 

  
Jeff frowns at her. “What--?” But he’s interrupted by a loud yell from behind the door and his eyes match Annie’s as he suddenly remembers. “Shit.” And then they’re both up and leaping for the door.

 

  
In the other room Britta and Troy are standing on either side of the couch in varying degrees of shock.

 

  
They each have a simple silver wedding band adorning the ring finger of their left hand.

 

  
“WE DIDN’T. WE. YOU. I. NO. NO. NO. NO.” Britta’s practically shaking, her eyes darting down to the offending ring on her hand and back up to Troy who is staring, slack-jawed, into space. Neither of them seem to notice Jeff and Annie. “How did this happen?!”

 

  
Annie opens her mouth but Jeff nudges her with his elbow and gives her a sharp shake of the head so that she purses her lips back together and stays quiet.

  
“I d’know.” Troy’s mouth barely moves, his words coming out in a jumbled exhale. “I can’t…” He looks around kind of blankly. “Where’s Abed?”

 

  
“WHO CARES? This is probably his fault anyway.”

 

  
Troy nods, patting down the pockets of his jeans. “Where’s my phone? I should call him. He’s probably wondering…” He trails off as he gets down on this hands and knees to look under the couch.

 

  
Britta’s eyes practically bulge out of her head. “Why aren’t you freaking out about this?!”

 

  
Annie leans forward a little. “I think this  _is_  him freaking out,” she whispers out of the side of her mouth.

 

  
“I don’t…” Britta throws up her hands and slumps down onto the couch, lifting her legs as Troy crawls by her. “This can’t be happening.”

 

  
Jeff snorts. “Honeymoon phase over already?”

 

  
“Shut up, Jeff.” Britta glares at him but then her eyes narrow dangerously as she takes in the towel that is slung low on his waist. “Wait a minute.”

 

  
“Ummmmm,” Annie starts, a little high pitched and frantic because she knows exactly what’s about to happen.

 

  
“You!” Britta interrupts and points between them wildly. “You had sex again!”

 

  
Everyone freezes, even Troy from his position on the ground. “AGAIN?” He and Jeff both yell at the same time.

 

  
Annie’s eyes widen as Jeff turns toward her slowly, his eyes flashing accusation. “You  _told_  her?”

 

  
“Dammit, Jeff! Who  _aren’t_  you sleeping with?”

 

  
“ _Now_ you show some emotion?” Britta yells at Troy, her attention diverted. “What is  _wrong_  with you?”

 

  
“We aren’t sleeping together!” Annie protests, then clasps her hands over her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She turns on her heel and runs toward the bathroom.

 

  
“Yeah, sex with Jeff Winger will do that to a person,” Britta calls after her.

 

  
“Funny. I don’t remember you ever complaining.” Jeff crosses his arms over his chest and leers at her but Britta levels him with a stare that makes him falter in his cockiness.

 

  
“What the hell are you doing, Jeff?”

 

  
“Oh, I don’t know,  _Britta_. But at least we didn’t get  _married_  last night.”

 

  
“Hey,” Troy starts. He stands up, looking almost angry at Jeff, but Britta cuts him off before he can say anything further.

 

  
“Oh god.” She throws herself sideways, facedown on the couch. “I’m  _married_!”

 

  
Both men stare at her and then look up at each other. Troy’s anger has faded into something softer and if Jeff were willing to analyze it he’d say it almost looks like sadness. He purses his lips and looks around, trying to ignore the atmosphere of complicated feelings settling into the room. “Have you seen my clothes?”

 

  
He’s managed to find his jeans, shoes and one lone sock when Annie slumps back into the room, her face pale. “I’m never drinking again.”

 

  
“Me neither,” Troy and Britta mumble in unison.

 

  
The door to the hallway opens then and Abed walks in whistling with a tray of coffee in one hand.  “You!” Britta points at him. “This is your fault isn’t it?”

 

  
“No.” He holds up his free hand in defense. “I didn’t have anything to do with this. But.” He sets the tray down and pulls something from his pocket. “There are pictures.”

 

  
~*~*~

 

  
_October 2013_

 

  
It’s late when he keys into the apartment, Annie following and not even pausing as she heads directly into his room without a word. Jeff trails after her, leaning into the doorway as she drops her purse on the ground and flops face first onto the middle of the bed. The comforter muffles her drawn out groan.

 

  
Jeff winces. When Annie doesn’t move after a moment he sighs and pushes away from the doorframe, sliding off his watch and setting it down with his wallet and keys on the dresser. As he changes, pulling on a soft gray tee-shirt and neatly hanging his suit back in the closet, he keeps a wary eye towards the bed.

 

  
He pauses before going into the bathroom. “Annie.” She ignores him though and he exhales loudly and shuts the door behind him.

 

  
On the bed, Annie turns her head slightly and stares at the closed door. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes and she groans again, burying her head back in the pillow. There’s a sense of unease rising in her chest, mixed in with the prickling humiliation. This is what she’s been trying to avoid these last few months and in one night, one stupid night, she’s probably gone and ruined everything.

 

  
A few minutes later Jeff comes out of the bathroom and she hears him pause before the mattress shifts and he settles next to her, sliding his hand gently over her back.

 

  
“Okay, look at me.”

 

  
Annie refuses for a moment but his hand slides up higher, into her hair, his thumb circling the pressure point at the back of her neck and her entire body seems to relax at his touch. She lets out a deep breath and turns onto her back, blinking up at him and sniffling. Jeff’s hand lands on the pillow beside her head and he moves closer so that he’s leaning over her.

 

  
“Annie.”

 

  
“That was horrible,” she whispers. “ _I_  was horrible.”

 

  
“It wasn’t your  _best_  moment.”

 

  
Annie covers her face with her hands, a noise of frustration escaping her lips.

 

  
“Hey, but it wasn’t your worst either. So.”

 

  
“Jeff.” She struggles to sit up, “I practically ruined my mom’s wedding by acting like a petulant child. It was embarrassing.” She looks down at her hands, curling her fingertips into the hem of his shirt.

 

  
“Well, after meeting your mom, it’s not all that surprising.”

 

  
Annie gapes at him, “That’s not! Jeff!”

 

  
He cocks his head at her, “What do you want me to say?”

 

  
She frowns, “I don’t know. I just want…” Her forehead drops against his shoulder and he shuffles closer, pressing his hand against her low back. “I don’t know. I want you to make it better.”

 

  
Jeff laughs, his whole body shaking with it and Annie rolls her head to the side so she can peer up at him out of the corner of her eye. “Sorry, kiddo. Unless Troy and Abed have figured out how to get that stupid phone booth of theirs to work, what’s done is done.”

 

  
“But I don’t want to act like this.”

 

  
“Temporary insanity.” His hand smoothes in slow circles over her back and he’s not pushing her away or being weird and maybe she hasn’t given him enough credit. “Besides, last week after I lost that case I went and got drunk with Abed and Troy and we ended up TP’ing the prosecuting attorney’s house. I’m not exactly a model of maturity here.”

 

  
He feels her lips turn up into a smile against the side of his neck. “Look.” Jeff struggles for a second. “When your mom and Jim get back from the honeymoon we’ll all go out to lunch and you’ll apologize and she’ll… I don’t know, act like it’s a huge burden to accept your apology and then everything will go back to normal and you won’t have to see her until her next wedding.”

 

  
Annie snorts and pulls away. “That’s not nice.” But she’s smiling. “ _We’ll_?”

 

  
“What?” He frowns in confusion.

 

  
“We’ll. You said ‘ _we’ll_  go to lunch.’”

 

  
Jeff rolls his eyes, but before he can turn away Annie sees a hint of pink in his cheeks. She leans in and presses a kiss just under his ear, tracing the tip of her nose along his jaw line.

 

  
“You gonna stay over tonight?” he murmurs.

 

  
“Mmm-hmm.” She stays curled into him, her hands starting to slide up his back under his shirt.

 

  
“Hey, on the bright side,” Jeff starts, “At least no one ended up in the emergency room this time.”

 

  
Annie guffaws and they’re both still laughing as she crawls on top of him and pins him to the bed.

 

  
~*~*~

 

  
_January 2015_

 

  
Jeff coughs loudly and makes a show of checking his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. Fuck. He leans into the doorway of Britta’s living room and glowers at the scene before him. From the couch Annie catches his eye, murmurs something to Shirley and then grabs a half-empty platter of vegetables from the coffee table as she gets up.

 

  
She reaches out a hand to brush against Jeff’s arm as she walks by him into the kitchen. “You could at least  _try_ to look like you’re being supportive,” she whispers with a meaningful raise of her eyebrows.

 

  
“Oh, I’m supportive. I am.” Jeff pivots around and leans his other shoulder into the doorframe as he watches Annie reach into the fridge for more ranch dip. “I’ve been supportive for the past  _three hours_. But that’s about my limit.”

 

  
“Real nice.”

 

  
“Annie, it’s a wake for a  _cat_.” He looks at his watch again. “We can still make our reservation if we hurry.”

 

  
“Britta needs us right now, Jeff. We can go to dinner tomorrow.”

 

  
“We can’t…” Jeff trails off and scrubs a hand over his face in frustration. The look on Annie’s face wavers between annoyance and concern but before she can question him Troy appears in the doorway next to Jeff holding a beer in one hand.

 

  
“Okay, who is this dude?”

 

  
Jeff looks over his shoulder at the wiry, kind of timid looking guy sitting close to Britta on the couch and nodding attentively as she tearfully relates the saga of Daniel’s last few days. “No clue.”

 

  
“His name’s Robert. They work together.” Annie says as she peeks between them into the living room. She has one of Shirley’s brownies in her hand and Jeff eyes her incredulously when she takes a bite, chewing slowly.

 

  
“What are you  _doing_?”

 

  
Her eyes widen. “I’m hungry?”

  
  
“Well then let’s  _go_  and we can have an actual meal at Frasca’s. You can get that ravioli you love.”

 

  
“He looks like a creepy dentist.” Troy takes a long pull from his beer, staring daggers at the couch. “Like one of those ones that keeps bodies in his basement.”

 

  
“What?” Annie stares at him, ignoring Jeff as he taps his watch and nods his head toward the door. “Troy,” she starts carefully. “Maybe you should go over there and-”

 

  
But Robert, unfortunately, chooses that moment to speak up. “Maybe we could go around and each talk about our favorite memories of Daniel.” Next to him Britta seems to melt.

  
She nods and blows her nose. “That would be nice.”

 

  
Jeff and Troy each make similar noises of disgust. From her spot between them Annie looks skyward and mutters something under her breath.

 

  
“I’ll start.” Robert pats Britta’s hand. “I didn’t know Daniel very well but I do know that whenever I saw his picture on Britta’s desk at work it always made me smile.”

 

  
“Who the fuck is this guy?” Jeff says, in a voice that is not as quiet as it should be.

 

  
“He makes my stomach feel like that time Abed and I only ate pizza for a month.”

 

  
“IIIIIIII’ll go next!” Annie yelps over them. She throws Jeff a glare that makes him shrink back a little into the doorframe. “Um. Well.” Everyone stares at her expectantly. “I always thought it was really cute the way he would run around chasing things that weren’t really there… Although, that was because of the blindness, sooooo.”

 

  
Jeff snorts.

 

  
“I have one,” Troy starts. He eyes Robert darkly, “See, I  _did_  know Daniel. Because I’m here. A lot.”

 

  
The smile that had started to bloom over Britta’s face when he started talking falters a bit. Robert looks between them, confused.

 

  
“Cause she’s my  _wife_.”

 

  
“Troy!”

 

  
“What?!” Shirley yelps.

 

  
“Oh this should be good,” Jeff grumbles.  

 

  
“I thought you guys took care of that,” Annie hisses to Troy.

 

  
Shirley makes another high-pitched noise. “You  _knew_?”

 

  
Pierce rubs his hands together and then reaches for a chip. “This is the best funeral I’ve ever been to.”

 

  
In the middle of it all Robert sits there looking shell-shocked. “I should go probably.”

 

  
Britta covers her face with her hands. “Oh god.”

 

  
Abed’s eyes flicker around the room, watching everyone like he’s mentally taking notes.

 

  
“Did you ALL know?” Shirley sits back, holding her purse tightly to her chest. “Oh fine. You can all just keep your little secrets. I guess we’re not as close as I thought we were.” She keeps her head held high and Britta rolls her eyes.

 

  
“Maybe because we knew you’d act all judgy about it!”

 

  
“Oh, I’m not judging you, Britta. God’s the one doing that.”

 

  
Jeff leans over to Annie, “Well, looks like everything’s par for the course here. We should probably take off.”

 

  
“We can’t leave  _now_.”

 

  
“Oh come on!” He practically explodes, throwing his hands up in the air. “We all know how this is going to turn out. Abed’s going to say something meta. Troy’s gonna cry. There’s going to be a lot of yelling, followed by a lot of crying and somehow you’re all going to end up blaming me in the end. So maybe, for once, I’m not in the mood to let my life descend into another wacky sitcom plot.”

 

  
Everyone gapes at him.

 

  
Annie’s eyes skitter around the room and then back to Jeff. “Okay.” She nods to herself and then offers a tight-lipped smile to her friends. “We’re just going to go for a walk. We’ll be right back.” Without another word she grabs Jeff by the lapel of his jacket, steering him toward the door and snagging two coats off the coat rack.

 

  
Outside the dark, cold January night air hits them, making them both shiver. Annie tosses Jeff one of the coats and pulls on her own puffy purple jacket and a pair of mittens from one of the pockets.

 

  
“This is Pierce’s,” Jeff says with mild distaste.

 

  
“Well then, you can freeze. I don’t really care!” she spats angrily before turning on her heel and stalking toward his car. He watches her go, his heart lurching up into his throat before tugging on the coat and jogging after her.

 

  
“Annie, wait.”

 

  
She spins around, pointing a finger at him. “You’re! You’re a jerk!” He opens his mouth but she continues, stepping closer and jabbing her finger against his chest. “And don’t say that it’s because this is just a silly cat funeral. It’s not just tonight. You’ve been weird all week.” Annie hunches into her coat, shoving her hands into the pockets and shivering. “Distant.”

 

  
Jeff exhales, his breath crystallizing in a puff around his face, “No. I’m…. Annie.” He reaches out and tugs her closer and despite everything she curls into him without reservation, sliding her hands around his back underneath the coat. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been preoccupied.”

 

  
“With what?”

 

  
He closes his eyes. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go.”

 

  
Annie tilts her head back all the way to looks up at him, her chin on his chest. “What do you mean?”

 

  
“Nothing.” He notes the way her nose is turning red from the cold. “We should go back inside.”

 

  
“Jeff.” She pulls away a little, arms still looped around him and he can see the quick rise and fall of her chest, matching his rapid pulse. He licks his lips and keeps his eyes on hers, thinking about the warm Italian restaurant they’re never going to make it to now and how maybe it doesn’t really matter anyway.

 

“Look, I’ve… I’ve given a lot of speeches in my life and they’ve all been specifically designed to get me what I want and I don’t want this to be… “ He searches for the right words. “I’m not really good at actually you know, talking about my feelings.”

 

  
She nods, “I know Jeff. It’s okay.”

 

  
“But I want you to know… I do love you and… I think about the future. With you.”

 

  
Annie’s eyes search his, “Jeff.”

 

  
He looks around in resignation. “I didn’t want to do this in a parking lot.” He slips his hand into his jacket and pulls out a small black box. Annie inhales sharply, the look on her face blooming into pure radiance as she steps back a bit and covers her mouth with her hands.

 

  
“Annie.” He barely gets her name out before she’s bouncing up on the balls of her feet and trying to wrap her arms around him again. “Yes. Yes. Yes,” she squeals. Jeff laughs sincerely for the first time that day, a kind of relief spreading through his limbs as he tries to hold her off with a hand at her shoulder.

 

  
“You have to let me ask the question!”

 

  
“Ask me! Ask me!” She makes a high-pitched noise of excitement as he grabs her hands and presses them to his chest, tugging her up close. She’s practically trembling, her bright blue eyes already shining with unshed tears.

 

  
Jeff licks his lips, meeting her eyes, surprised at the emotion that catches in his throat as he tries to speak. “Annie.”

 

  
She sucks in a deep breath.

 

  
“Will you marry me?”

 

  
She nods furiously, throwing her arms around his neck and peppering kisses all over his face, knocking the ring box out of his hand in the process.

 

  
“Was that a yes?” He laughs out, cupping her cheeks in his hands to hold her still long enough to press his mouth to hers.

 

  
“Yes!”

 

  
They eventually find the little velvet box behind the tire of a car and his hands are shaking a little as he slides the ring onto her finger but he convinces himself it’s just the cold.

 

 

  
~*~*~

 

  
_June 2016_

 

  
Jeff stands at the bar, surveying the scene in front of him as he tilts back the last of his champagne. He searches out his friends, eyes landing on Britta and his mom sitting at a nearby table deep in conversation, and then Pierce at the DJ station, gesturing in agitation about something to a very confused looking DJ. Shirley, Andre, Abed and Abed’s date all dance around each other on the dance floor, trying to one up one another in ridiculous dance moves and even over the music Jeff can hear Shirley’s loud peals of laughter as she mimics Abed’s robot.

 

  
Jeff rubs his thumb over the ring on his finger absentmindedly like he’s been doing all night, the cool weight of the band a constant distraction, as his gaze drifts back to where he knows Annie is dancing with Elijah. Her face is flushed as she giggles and spins, the tulle of her dress twirling around her and Jeff smiles to himself and sets the champagne flute back down on the bar.

 

  
As he makes his way toward the dance floor he’s stopped by various co-workers and friends as they clap him on the shoulder with words of congratulations or positive reviews on the cake and he nods and smiles and promises he’ll double check the name of the baker with Annie but there’s a part of him that really wishes she had agreed to run off and elope somewhere tropical and secluded.

 

  
Elijah’s gotten tall; he’s almost taller than Annie now and Jeff taps him lightly on the arm. “Hey, buddy, mind if I cut in?” The teenager looks up, his mouth turning down into a frown, his shoulders slumping slightly. “Yeah, sure. I guess.” 

 

  
Annie reaches forward to wrap him up in a hug before he leaves. “Thanks for the dance, Eli.” He shrugs, looking sheepish as he walks away.

 

  
Jeff gathers Annie into his arms and she slides her hands up his chest to link together behind his neck and smiles brightly up at him.

 

  
“He has a crush on you.”

 

  
“Jealous?”

 

  
“Me? Never.” He can’t keep the goofy grin off his face as he grips her waist a little firmer over the fitted bodice of her dress. The music is fast and everyone around them dances energetically but they remain pressed together, swaying slightly.

 

  
Her dress is strapless, leaving her pale shoulders bare and he slides one hand up to smooth over her back and then down her arm to her elbow. “Have I told you yet that I really like this dress?”

 

  
Annie beams, nodding. “It was the first one I tried on.”

 

  
Jeff raises an eyebrow, “You didn’t spend three months researching the perfect dress? I must have imagined all those Bridal catalogues lying all over the house.”

 

  
She laughs and ducks her head into his chest. “I might have already known which one I wanted. But when I tried it on it just felt right.”

 

  
“Well, it  _looks_  right,” he says, his voice low and throaty and maybe a touch emotional.

 

  
Annie bites her lip and looks up at him through her eyelashes and he huffs out a little laugh as her hands slip down his arms, fingers curling into his biceps. She presses up on her toes so she can kiss him and he meets her halfway, mouth opening over hers hungrily until she pulls away laughing, breathless in a way that makes him grab her hand in his and start tugging her off the dance floor.

 

  
But then suddenly Troy is darting up to them, looking over his shoulder, his body tight with nervousness. “Annie, your crazy cousin won’t leave me alone.”

 

  
“Hannah?”

 

  
His eyes widen as he nods slowly and shivers at the mere mention of her name.

 

  
“Don’t worry. She’s harmless.”

 

  
“You don’t understand.” He leans in and both Jeff and Annie mirror his movement. “She told me she wants to give me an Upside Down Polar Bear Expedition. I don’t know what that is. But it sounds un-fun.”

 

  
Annie’s nose scrunches up in disgust as Jeff smothers a laugh behind a closed fist.

 

  
“Annie. Is there a problem? Do you need anything?” Britta suddenly materializes at Annie’s side, grasping her elbow. “Do you need to go to the bathroom again?”

 

  
“Nope!” Annie yelps, glancing furtively up at Jeff.  Britta had been a zealous and eager maid of honor - at times a little _too_  over eager, especially after finding out that there had been a bet between the guys over how fast it would take her to “Britta” the whole thing. Jeff knows that she’s been driving Annie crazy during the last few weeks, barely leaving her side and constantly peppering her with phone calls and emails in the name of being helpful.

 

  
When the music changes then to Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” Jeff goes for the easy fix. He points his finger between Troy and Britta, “I have an idea. Why don’t you two go dance? It’ll keep Troy away from Hannah for a little while.”

 

  
Troy and Britta glance at each other and then look away quickly. Troy shrugs but Britta points her thumb towards her table. “I should get back. Your mom and I were talking about-”

 

  
“Britta,” Annie interrupts. “Do you think you could help Troy out with this tiny little thing? Just this once? For me?” She turns up a shoulder, looking at Britta beseechingly.

 

  
“You-” Britta’s eyes narrow but she chokes back her retort and sighs. “Fine. Troy?” She looks up at the ceiling. “Would you like to dance with me?”

 

  
He shrugs, scratching at an invisible spot on his lapel. “Yeah, whatever.” Britta rolls her eyes but tugs him toward the dance floor and they’re awkward for a second until he pulls her closer with a hand on her waist and says something that makes her laugh softly, head titled toward his.

 

  
“Aww.” Annie clasps her hands to her chest.

 

  
“Yeah, they’re adorable. C’mon.”

 

  
Jeff pulls her out from under the tent and up the lawn into the garden where the ceremony had been held. The chairs have since been picked up but there are still dark pink rose petals scattered over the ground at their feet. It’s warm out, stars dotting the night sky above them and when they’re far enough away that they can barely hear the music anymore Jeff wraps his arms around her, kissing her soundly.  She melts into him, circling her arms around his neck and he stoops, bending a little at the knees and lifting her so that her toes dangle off the ground.

 

  
“You know, we’ll have plenty of time to be alone on the honeymoon.” Annie tilts her head back so he can mouth a trail of kisses down her throat. She hums, “You’ll probably get sick of me.”

 

  
“Probably.” Their lips press together again once, twice, and then he pulls away to nuzzle his nose against hers. They both inhale deeply, tightening their hold on each other before he lets her drop back to the ground, hands still low on her hips.

 

  
“Hmm. We should get back. Everyone will be wondering where we are,” Annie whispers as she smoothes her fingers along his tie.

 

  
“Ugh.” He presses his lips to her forehead. “I hate everyone in there.”

 

  
“No you don’t.” She feels him smile against her skin. “I _am_  sort of surprised that Abed and Troy haven’t done something insane today like try to re-enact that scene from the Graduate.”

 

  
Jeff takes a step back and bows slightly from the waist, flourishing his hand, “You’re welcome, milady.”

 

  
Annie’s eyes widen. “What were they going to do?”

 

  
“Nope. You know what? I’m saving those as collateral for the next time you’re mad at me and you forget how much I love you.”

 

  
“ _Those_? How many ideas did they have?”

 

  
“Lots Annie. _Lots_  of ideas.” Jeff wraps his arms around her again. I figure it’ll be enough to get me through at least the first year of marriage.”

 

  
Annie laughs. “And then what?”

 

  
“Then? I’m pretty much screwed. I don’t know what you were thinking marrying me.” His fingers skim over the bare skin of her shoulder blades down to the satin ribbon that trails down the back of her dress. He rubs it between thumb and forefinger.

 

  
A burst of giddiness swells up in Annie’s chest and she giggles as she goes up on her toes and presses a kiss under his chin. “I love you.”

 

“ _So_  cheesy,” he murmurs.

 

  
She hums and pulls back to straighten his tie as he smiles down at her, tracing the shadowed features of her face with his eyes. Across the lawn the music in the tent switches to something more up-tempo and Annie slips her hand into his and starts pulling him back in that direction.

 

  
Jeff follows with a dramatic sigh and she turns to face him, walking backwards and doing a little jumping shimmy, shaking her shoulders back and forth so that the beading in her bodice catches the moonlight and glitters. “Come dance with me, Jeff.”

 

  
He laughs and pulls her in for another quick kiss before twining their fingers together and walking hand in hand with her back into the party.


End file.
